'The Amazing Spider-Man' Countdown: A Trip Through Memory Lane

JohnGholson is a life-long comic book fanboy who has previously covered all manner of superhero news at AOL. After dabbling with comic book self-publishing in the '90s, John moved on to study sequential art at the Savannah College of Art & Design, and currently produces a regular web comic, ‘Appetite for Destruction,’ for Tapsauce.com. You can read his MarvelStudiosCountdown here at Movies.com every other week.

Face front, True Believers. The moment you’ve been waiting for is here! A new Spider-Man film is swinging into theaters this very week, and maybe you’ve been following the Countdown since it began - keeping one eye on Sony’s controversial reboot while hoping for the best for ol’ Webhead. You can exhale a little; I’ve seen Amazing Spider-Man and it’s good - a completely worthy superhero movie in a year stuffed full of them.

Thanks for following the Countdown all of these months leading up to release! Just because The Amazing Spider-Man is finally here doesn’t mean we’re going radio silent - you can still catch the Marvel Studios Countdown here every other week (or follow me on Twitter at @gholson). As always, if you’re a fan looking to make a difference, pleaseconsideradonationtotheHeroInitiative. They work hard to make sure that comic creators are taken care of financially in their times of need. Always remember that with any big-budget superhero movie you see, someone had to create those characters, and they often don’t reap any of the benefits of those creations going on to spawn millions upon millions of dollars.

Now, without further ado, here’s a look back at the Spider-Man Countdown:

FiveReasonsSony’sBeingQuietwithSpider-Man (11/14) - Most big Summer flicks start their marketing push during the busy Holiday blockbuster season, but Amazing Spider-Man was still not being pushed as heavily as some other titles. Here, I speculated as to why that was happening.

Spider-ManSwingsThroughthe1970s (12/12) - There were a lot of different live-action versions of Spider-Man around in the '70s, and we took a look at them, from the TV movies to his appearances on The Electric Company all the way to his bizarre giant robot Japanese incarnation. There are a lot of fun clips in this post.

PuttingtheCartBeforetheSpidey-Horse (1/9) - At this time, a lot of what was being revealed about the film was through bits of tie-in merchandise. I make the plea that Sony be a little more aggressive in their marketing and not let their merch do all the work.

DotheRoguesDeserveaReboot? (3/5) - Even though we’d just seen Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Venom, should they get the reboot as well or should the makers of Amazing Spider-Man move on to villains we’ve yet to see? I still think it’s an interesting question, and if the Wallcrawler is fair game for a relaunch, then I’m ready to see his arch-enemies in all new forms (though Spidey still has a ton of untapped villains).

IntroducingtheLizard! (4/2) - We take a look back at Amazing Spider-Man #6 from 1963, the first comic book appearance of the Lizard, the same villain who shows up in the new movie. I was surprised by some of the things they did keep in the film from his first appearance. For one thing he can talk, and Spidey does his best not to hurt him during the battles - just subdue him. The most surprising carry-over from the comics is Lizard’s ability to control other reptiles. It’s not used in the same way it is in the comic, but it’s definitely in the film. Check out the differences in the origins of the movie version and his comic book counterpart.

WillSpider-ManEverBeanAvenger? (4/30) - A lot of folks believed that Spider-Man might swing by for a cameo in Avengers, but it didn’t happen. Could it, though? Maybe, but not likely. We get into some of the reasons why it might be tricky for Spider-Man to cross-over into films from Marvel Studios. Never say never, fans.

HowWillSpideyFareattheBoxOffice? (5/14) - Despite being a popular character in a financially successful franchise in a film being released on a wide open Independence Day weekend, folks were already speculating that Amazing Spider-Man wouldn’t be a box office draw. We make the argument that Spider-Man is pretty much a sure thing box office draw.

SonyPlansVenom, PonderstheFutureofSpidey (6/11) - Sony announced plans for a Venom solo movie before they get around to an Amazing Spider-Man sequel, and Sony wants to build Spidey’s corner of the world into their own Avengers-like universe, with overlapping characters, connected films, etc.

TheAmazingSpider-Man, a Marc Webb film, stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifans. It is now in theaters.

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